Prince Harrys visa records likely to be opened as questions swirl around drug use, special treatment, judge says

A federal judge said Wednesday that he will “likely” order the release of Prince Harry’s immigration files, which could reveal whether the Duke of Sussex was lawfully issued a US visa — or whether the royal could be subject to deportation for lying to authorities about his past drug use.DC US District Court Judge Carl J.Nichols made the determination during a hearing for a case brought by lawyers at the conservative Heritage Foundation, who sued the Department of Homeland Security to compel the release of the 40-year-old’s records.“To the maximum extent possible, I’m required to make public everything that can be made public,” Nichols told both parties, adding that he had to take care any disclosures do not violate US privacy laws shielding the Duke.“I’m going to take this in stages,” Nichols added at the end of the hearing, indicating that he would allow the government to “submit proposed redactions” in order for him to “analyze” whether Harry properly attested to cocaine, cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms abuse, as detailed in his 2023 memoir “Spare.”Attorney John Bardo had argued on behalf of the government that the duke’s records were “essentially the same” as sworn declarations by DHS officials already submitted into evidence and reviewed by the judge.Those declarations led to Nichols’ ruling last September that “the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the duke’s immigration records.”Even if information covered under privacy laws was removed, Bardo argued, the resulting file to be made public would be “a shell” and meaningless to Heritage attorneys who initiated the suit after filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the records.But Nichols acknowledged that the case had been derailed due to procedural issues flagged by Heritage’s lawyers — including the fact that his September ruling was based on the DHS declarations, rather than on personal review of the immigration f...